Mitsubishi, Worst Idea? (Page 2 of 2)

That's even cheaper. If you have access, turning down the stock rear balance shaft in a lathe is what the AMS guys do for their "race shaft". Machine off the counter weight but still retain the bearing support of the block for high rpm operation.

Either way, this is probably all moot anyway as the car will run great after this much talk and the rest of the car will implode around it in a spectacular fashion.

It's a Mistu, so unless you're havin Pratt & Miller build you up a drivetrain made of Pure cheatonium, it'll die in some spectacular fashion SOMEWHERE on the track. Just remember, Mitsubishi just won the deConstructor's cup!

See, now you guys are making me want to Lemonize my Talon.  It's pretty cheaty though - front mount inter-cooler, coil overs, 50 trim turbo, DSM Link, etc.  Maybe I'll take the laps, and just look at it as a challenge to finish the race.  Maybe even take a 4g63 & put it in something bulletproof, like a French, Italian  or British car.

Hello Jim,

Thanks for the advertising for one of our team members.  You certainly said it better than I ever could have! David Buschur and his guys at Buschur Racing, www.buschurracing.com , are probably the only people in the world that can get a DSM to finish a 24 hour race - Let alone a 24 hour race with this kind of budget.  Indeed he is a Demigod with DSM's and that is evidenced by their results in other forms of racing and now budget endurance road racing too.  With his help our team has been able to keep the Talonator chugging along which is the key to this whole thing.

You may recall that the Talonator had some serious reliability issues.  I purchased it from a chronically unemployed person who didn't know the meaning of the word service. This Talon was in seriously poor shape -- if it were in better shape or had a title I might have kept it as one of my street cars, like the other two that I currently own.  My family has had a long love affair with Talons -- my sister purchased a new 1990 Talon AWD TSi back in 1990, and then my Mom, Nephew, Sister in Law, and I each purchased one in short order.  We eventually sold my Mom's car to one of my best friends who drove it over 250,000 miles.  Even that car was in better shape than the Talonator.  The rest of my family has moved on to other vehicles, I am the only one stubborn enough to keep with them for 20 years now.  The Talonator didn't finish its first Lemons race at the Lamest Day in 2009.  Not surprisingly it blew the head gasket and took the head with it.  David offered to join the team and fix the car for us after seeing us win with a SAAB at CMP.  He wanted to see a DSM do well and showcase the fact that he could put a much maligned Mitsubishi/DSM together under this budget constraint and make it last in hopes of dispelling the notion that they only build drag race engines.  And, guess what, he did it!  He did rebuild the head which is in our budget and other than that used only his expertise like every other good Lemons team does.

The car is currently no where near the fastest.  It wasn't the fastest at the race it won and that was in a short field. In fact at both Lemons races it has been in it hasn't been anywhere near the top of the speed chart.  It was over 10 seconds a lap off the pace at PBIR.  Do you really think that is as fast as Buschur and I could make it run if the Lemons budget were not a factor? Really?

I think this great picture of the car from Ronman (Thanks Ronman) illustrates my point:

We will keep working hard to make it faster within the budget constraints presented.  I am hoping to be able to do some suspension work with the residual for the next race   But for now I am very proud of our accomplishments with the Talonator powered by Buschur Racing which has proven that it can go the distance -- 2 consecutive finishes in a 24-hour endurance marathon at Nelson Ledges (1st) and PBIR (11th).  My thanks go to Buschur Racing and their team of experts for proving that a Talon/Mitsubishi can go the distance. 

To the original poster, don't be afraid to run a Mitsu.  If you have any questions feel free to contact me and I will help in any way I can.  I have been told "There's a certain sense of camaraderie among "Plymouth" drivers." and I too have found that to be true, so best of luck.

Robin Bank
www.rbankracing.com

Robin, wasn't the Lamest Day 2009 the only Lemons race that's been run at Nelson Ledges?  [asking because you mention blowing a head gasket at Lamest Day '09 but then say you got 1st at Nelson Ledges.. I hope I didn't miss a close by Lemons race!]

You have to pull the image out of the HTML page.  right click, view image.  or right click, properties, pull the URL to the image from there.

http://ronman.org/pics/Lemons/miami10/img_1233_std.jpg

Buscher racing is definitely DSM experts....a friend bought parts for his 1990 Eagle Talon TSI from David way back in the early 90's....that car ran 12's with bolt ons!!!!!

I also wonder why DSM's and Conquest don't do better in Lemons.....they can be very fast, but always have reliability issues.....

Better than a Spirit w/ slushbox: Daytona w/ 3.0V6 and 5speed.  Not as furiously fast as a turboII car, but more reliable & easier to drive.

My mom had a 3.0 Plymouth Voyager. My parents are very conservative drivers, but it still threw a rod at 100,000 miles. Then it blew a head gasket or warped a head every 50,000 miles after until it hit 250,000 miles and my mom traded it in on a new Chrysler minivan.

Well, she has nearly 250,000 miles on the newer van with no trouble except an A/C system that quit way back when it was under warranty.